


Holding Patterns

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-04-09
Updated: 2003-04-09
Packaged: 2019-05-30 21:11:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15104960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: CJ thinks about time - Sequel to "Shifting Sands"





	Holding Patterns

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Holding Patterns**

**by:** Rhonda Dossett

**Character(s):** CJ/Toby  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Toby  
**Category(s):** Romance, Angst  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine and never will be.  
**Summary:** CJ thinks about time - sequel to "Shifting Sands"  
**Spoiler:** Everything up to and including Privateers  
**Author's Note:** As requested - okay demanded - a sequel to "Shifting Sands" 

CJ hung up the wall phone in the senior staff cabin and leaned her forehead against the dark paneling.  Toby was going to draft a statement for her to present.  Something short and calming -  
an elegant lie to buy them time to fix the problem with the plane.

The phones in the press cabin were shut off.  She'd offered the reporters no real answers to their questions and they'd had lots of questions.  Most had seen the extra military jets escorting Air Force One.  Most knew the plane should have been landing in Dallas by now.  Now they all knew they couldn't call out.  Luckily it was standard practice on Air Force One for the reporters and guests to check all unofficial cell phones at the beginning of each flight and collect them upon landing. She had never been so glad for that precaution as she was now.  

"Are you okay?"  Donna asked.  She was pitch-hitting for Carol who had been laid low by a nasty case of the flu.

"Fine," CJ lied, standing up straight and pasting on a smile.  "It's all going to be fine.  Let's go talk to the President." 

A slight landing gear problem, one of the pilots reported to the Commander in Chief.  They were working on possible repair options.  "Not to worry," he said.  "Air Force One could fly for hours yet.  Longer, if needed.  They could refuel in the air."

Great, she thought replaying the scene in her mind as she took a moment to sit and gaze out the window.  They could circle forever, never landing, never reaching a destination.  The situation with the plane was very similar to her relationship with Toby - circling - trapped in a holding pattern while he awaited the birth of his children.

"Andi's pregnant with twins," he'd proudly announced to the astonished group at the debate camp.  He'd told her privately only moments before, a telephone call from Leo interrupting them before he could do more than tell her about the success of the in vitro fertilization procedure.

Shocked, she'd smiled and nodded in all the right places, pretending to feel delighted at his impending fatherhood.  Inside she was devastated, confused as to how he could get involved with his ex-wife again, if not physically, then emotionally.  Confused as to what Andi's pregnancy meant to their convoluted relationship.

The night she'd found out about the President's disease, she and Toby had made love for the first time.  It had been an act of desperation on both their parts, a surrender to a passion they'd denied for years. The following months had seen them taking one step forward and then another two backwards in their relationship, neither willing to commit to something more than a few nights a month in each other's bed.

She should have committed, CJ thought staring out at the cloud-filled sky.  She'd had plenty of chances before Andi had entered the picture again.

"I've asked Andi to marry me," Toby confessed one night when she'd shown up at his apartment unexpectedly, hoping to spend the lonely hours before morning cradled in his arms.  Hours she wouldn't have to wonder about whether or not the President had ordered an assignation of the Qumari prince.

"For real?" she'd asked, believing that the previous requests had been for public consumption only, that neither Andi nor Toby had really wanted to remarry.

"Yeah."  He had waited for the recriminations - the explosions from her that never came.

She had simply turned and walked away. 

Remembering that night and the one that followed the next week in Dayton, CJ sighed.  They had both made mistakes, wasted too much time.  

"CJ?"

Returning to the present, the Press Secretary looked up into the worried eyes of Andi Wyatt. 

"I talked to Toby," Andi said as she carefully sat down in the seat next to CJ.  The pregnancy had made her movements awkward and slow.  "He seems calm about the situation."

"He's working now - writing press releases.  He only seems calm," CJ answered, trying not to look at Andi's swollen abdomen.

"I'm sure you know best," Andi sniped, smiling at the woman who was part of the ridiculous triangle her life had become.  It wasn't that she had any intentions of marrying Toby but it was comforting to be asked, and asked often, by the father of her children.  CJ was a complication she just wasn't sure how to deal with.

"I don't have the energy or the time to play games with you now," an angry CJ warned her, her hand moving to unfasten her seatbelt.  "You told him no and he moved on.  Yes, Toby and I are involved.  I know he told you before you unexpectedly decided to join us on the Orange County trip.  You also know he went to Florida with me."

"I'm sorry."  Andi grimaced, as the babies both decided to kick at the same time.  "I don't mean some of the things that come out of my mouth these days.  I want Toby to be happy.  Truly."

"I believe you believe that," CJ said, getting to her feet.  Slightly mollified, she paused for a moment.  "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'll feel better when we land."  A frightened Andi looked up into her rival's face and grabbed her hand.  "CJ, if something should happen to me, will you love my children?  Will you help Toby raise..."

"Andi," CJ sighed, interrupting her.  "Nothing is going to happen to you.  The plane is going to land and we'll go on - fighting over Toby - until we're both old and gray."

"Maybe.  Or maybe we'll drive him crazy and he'll take up with someone else."  Andi smiled at her and released her hand.

"Am I driving you crazy," she whispered into the phone.  It was getting dark outside and the plane was still in a holding pattern around Dallas.  

"Yes," he answered without having to give the question any thought.  She'd always drove him crazy.  It had gotten worse since they'd been sleeping together.  Now sometimes just the sound of her laugh had him hard and wanting.

"I was thinking about our week in Florida - the time when we were swimming in the ocean and watching the stars come out."

"I was watching for sharks," he grumbled, shifting in his office chair as images of her wrapping her long legs around him flashed though his mind.

"We never did find my swimsuit.  You were incredible that night.  Huge and hard and hot."  She smiled, imagining his pleased blush.

"Don't do that."  He choked on the coffee he was main-lining.  "I'm trying to work.  Leo will be in here any minute with an update on the repair situation."

"I'm sorry."  She smiled and tucked the phone between her shoulder and chin, motioning Donna to hand her the faxed text Toby had drafted.  

"No you're not.  Did you get the press releases I sent you?"  

"Yeah.  Looks good.  Did you write a set for if things go wrong?"

"CJ," he growled, rubbing the back of his neck and leaning back in his chair.  "You wouldn't need to see those anyway.  I'll give those to Josh."

"You keep Josh out of my Press Room, Toby.  I don't care if I'm dead and scattered over the Texas prairie, I'll know and come back to haunt you."

"You already haunt me," he whispered.  "When you get back we need to talk.  I want more than a sometimes roommate or a synchronized swimming coach."

"Okay."

He frowned at the phone. "Okay, what?"

She didn't answer.  The phone was dead.

**Sequel:** "Holding Patterns 2 - Landing"


End file.
